


When Our Courage Collapses

by ruff_ethereal



Category: Darkest Dungeon (Video Game), Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Dark, Dark Fantasy, Drama, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 11:18:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3567671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruff_ethereal/pseuds/ruff_ethereal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phyllis told them it was going to be rough. They hadn't expected this.</p><p>They weren't prepared for the things they saw down there. They weren't ready for the nightmares. They weren't prepared for one of them to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Our Courage Collapses

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the lyrics of "I May Fall" from RWBY.

Awful, faint sounds thrummed in the sanitized white and dull grey halls. They only got worse as Sashi neared the first cell doors, exchanging one form of unpleasantness for a new one as she passed them. In one, maniacal laughter and despaired wailing. In another, indistinct words filled with hatred and laced with venom, their occupant furiously banging at the steel door. In a third, wet noises she'd rather not think too long about.

The room was at the very end of the hall. Sashi pulled out her knife and checked her appearance. She'd removed her head wraps, the scarf, the pins and ribbons holding her normal pigtails up and tight to her scalp. She'd left the bandolier of poison tipped knives and the terrible (for the target) bullets back at the lodgings. She'd taken off every last bit of leather, armour plating, and keepsake remains from her person, leaving her in a simple old shirt, pants, and scuffed, aged traveler's boots.

On top of all this, she'd spent a good two hours in the inn scrubbing all the blood and viscera from her person.

Sashi sheathed her blade, and unbuckled her holster. She left her weapons outside of the door, fit the key in the lock, and turned it.

The mechanism inside made an awful noise as gears churned, and the bolt pulled back. What really made Sashi wince, however, was the pathetic, high pitched yelp from the room's occupant.

Light streamed in from the hallway and into the darkness. There were no lamps inside the soft, padded walls, for the safety of the patient and the asylum itself. Sashi opened the door as carefully and gently as she could, till the beam of light landed on a cowering, shaking husk of a man curled up into a ball.

“Go away… please!” He sobbed, his arms thrown up in front of his face to shield his eyes from the light.

He'd lost the brilliant steel armour that made him shine like a sun in the darkness, proud and courageous. All he wore was ratty, old clothes made of burlap, making him look even more pathetic and pitiful.

Sashi frowned. “I'm coming in, Penn.” She stepped into the room. Her shadow fell over Penn and for the few times in her life, she heard him scream—an awful, heart wrenching noise that made her flinch and broke her heart.

Sashi kept walking till she was a few feet away from Penn. The whole time, he whimpered and wept, scrambling back as if trying to sink further into the wall his whole body was already pressing up against.

Sashi waited until his clawing had stopped, and he settled into a tight, quivering ball once more. “You can't just stay here forever, Penn.” She said softly.

Penn didn't look up. “I can't go back down there, Sashi. I just can't.”

“Penn, we need you! We can't save the day without you!”

Penn looked up, fury in his eyes. “How can I save the day when I can't even save my friends?!”

Sashi staggered back.

Penn quickly lowered his head back into his knees, his seething turning into pain-wracked sobs. “Boone… Boone's...” He trailed off, and wept even harder.

“Boone's still alive, Penn.” Sashi said quietly. “He's alive because of you.”

Penn kept sobbing.

“That ugly hag didn't turn Boone into soup because you saved him, Penn. You were the first one to react after she scooped him up. You were the one who kept smashing into that pot of hers till it tipped over. You were the one who carried him all the way back up and to the hospital.”

Penn's kept on crying.

Sashi looked down and closed her eyes. “This isn't you, Penn. This isn't my friend who I happily hang out with every single day of my life; this isn't the hero who I happily go into battle with any day of the week…” She looked up, tears welling in her eyes. “This isn't the man who I fell in love with.”

Penn looked up, his eyes red, puffy, and wide open with confusion. He sniffed.

Sashi blushed, her mouth turning up in a small smile even as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I love you Penn. Have for a really, _really_ long time. I've just been too much of a coward to tell you.” She chuckled harshly. “Funny how this whole thing turned out, right?”

Penn stared, his expression unchanging. His tears stopped flowing.

Sashi held out her hand. “I love you, Penn. Please, don't make me leave this room alone.”

They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, Penn with his knees to his chest, staring up at Sashi; Sashi standing up, holding her hand out to Penn. Sashi had changed hands by the time he stood up.

It was another eternity before Penn walked forward, till he was less than a foot away from Sashi. Her arm withering and quaking like its pair had, Sashi put it back down to her side where they both stayed.

Penn looked Sashi in her eyes; they were red with tears, yet still glimmering with a faint spark of hope. His blank frown slowly tugged up into a smile. He raised his arms, wrapped them around Sashi, and pulled her to his chest.

Sashi smiled and started sobbing into his shirt. Penn patted her on the back.

“Let's get out of here.” He said.

Hand in hand, they left the padded cell behind.


End file.
